DISCALCED CARMELITE FRIARS · ANGLO-IRISH PROVINCE
Young Adult Ministry
ST TERESA OF AVILA
“All must be friends, all must be loved, all must be held dear, all must be helped.”
We recognise every young adult as a gift from God, and we value and encourage their safe
participation in all activities that enhance their spiritual, physical, emotional, intellectual,
and social development.
STATEMENT ON SAFEGUARDING
In the Young Adult Ministry of the Discalced Carmelite Friars we are committed to creating
sacred and safe spaces where the desire for God in each young person is awakened, nurtured
and protected. We are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all who join us at
the weekly Living Flame in Kensington, at our gatherings in Oxford and Gerrards Cross, on
our Advent and Lenten Retreats, on pilgrimage, and in our online community.
For us, safeguarding is a core part of our mission to be a safe and sacred community.
Carmelite spirituality is founded on prayer as friendship with God, “an intimate sharing
between friends”, and on the conviction that God dwells in the centre of every soul. Because
of this, we receive every person who comes to us as a temple of the living God, whose dignity
and freedom must be reverenced and protected. The trust that young people place in us
when they open their hearts in prayer, in spiritual accompaniment and on retreat is a sacred
trust, and it must never be misused.
For us, safeguarding is not a policy on a shelf or a box-ticking exercise. It is a living
commitment: careful recruitment and training of all who lead, clear boundaries in pastoral
and spiritual care, thoughtful planning of every gathering, and a readiness to listen, to believe
and to act whenever a concern is raised. We follow the National Safeguarding Standards of
the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and we seek to foster a genuine spirituality of care
in which everyone is responsible for the safety of everyone else.
As a community of friars, young adults, leaders and volunteers, this work is challenging and
demanding. But it is a journey we gladly undertake: a journey towards a sacred and safe
place where young people can grow in prayer, in friendship and in the freedom of the
children of God.
Fr. Jerome Ituah, OCD
Promoter, Young Adult Ministry and Safeguarding Lead
Discalced Carmelite Friars, Anglo-Irish Province
Date: October 25, 2026
Social Media and Private Communication Policy: https://encounter.uk.net/social-media-and-private-communication-policy/
Young Adult Ministry Safeguarding Policy: https://encounter.uk.net/young-adult-ministry-safeguarding-policy/